Chapter 14

Sure enough, come morning Kagome was all for marching outside, purifying the hell out of the cloud and then taking their leave as though there were no danger to her plan at all.

A steadily glaring Mattaki finally convinced her that perhaps there was a better way and she finally fell silent, letting the others get a word – or ten – in edgewise.

"This cloud is a curse sent by Naraku to destroy those that opposed him. It is fueled somewhat by the power of the Shikon, as it is obvious that this curse was set in place before the final battle. It is held in place by his malice and hate and while it isn't truly living, it does have a somewhat limited awareness," Miroku began, a scholarly mien on his face as he spoke. "Its sole purpose is revenge and destruction. You four are not part of its reason for being, so unless you directly attack it or get in its way it won't go after you. However, it won't hesitate to go through you if it has to."

"I wonder why Naraku even did something like this," Kagome said, frustrated with the whole thing. This 'curse' was out of character for the spider hanyou as far as she was concerned.

Inuyasha looked at her incredulously. "How can you even ask that? It's just like something he'd do, the sadistic bastard!"

"You don't understand what I'm saying! Naraku was totally convinced of his own superiority – he always, always just knew he was going to win. This goes against who he was – leaving behind a curse against those who opposed him in case they won? He would never have believed that we were going to win! So... I guess I'm just surprised that he was able to admit, even to himself, that he might not win long enough to actually do something like this," she sighed, her voice calming back down. "This wasn't something that he crafted in a few hours – it took some time and effort, even with the jewel."

It got quiet as they all thought about that; even Inuyasha had to reluctantly admit that Kagome was right – Naraku was constitutionally incapable of even thinking that there was a possibility that he would not win in the end.

"Perhaps he set this in motion without care for whether he won or lost."

Everyone turned to look at the daiyoukai who'd spoken. It was silent for a moment, and then Miroku asked, "What do you mean?"

"It is possible that he felt that even though he would win his goals, i.e. gaining the jewel, that you might all still live through it. This might have been his attempt at destroying you afterward without him actually having to lift a hand – sort of a cleanup detail. Or perhaps the jewel taunted him with the possibility of his loss, and this was his reaction to that." He looked up from where he'd been staring at the now low fire, his eyes flashing golden in the moment. "It was obviously triggered by you four going back to the village, and without assistance would have succeeded in destroying you. The fact that Naraku is actually dead and defeated doesn't really change this reality, however – we still must decide how to deal with his curse if we wish to leave this cave and continue our lives past this point," he reminded them.

They all subsided at that, knowing he was right. It really didn't matter how or why this curse had been born – the only thing that mattered was destroying it.

"So how do we do that?" came a quiet voice after a moment, and everyone looked at the one who'd spoken - Kohaku. It was really his first entire sentence since the group had arrived yesterday to find their missing companions holed up in this cave.

"Feh. I don't see why me'n Kagome can't just go out there, use the Backlash Wave and her arrow like we have before, and blow it to smithereens," Inuyasha groused sourly, obviously impatient with the talk and wanting to get moving.

Mattaki looked up at his son. "In case you've forgotten, for the Backlash Wave to work you need the enemy to attack you with its youki first. This cloud, while it does contain some of the youki of Naraku, cannot really use it to attack in that manner."

The hanyou grumbled but dropped that suggestion. "So what do you suggest then, old man? Since you keep shooting us all down, that mean you got some idea?"

'Well, first of all we're definitely going to have to lure it out of here," he said, casting a dry look at his son. "I don't know about you, but I really don't think there's room to be fighting that thing in here, or even out there. So the first thing we have to do is escape."

There were nods all around at that – none of them wanted to be fighting that cloud from within it while stuck in a small cave and stumbling all over each other.

"I personally believe that the only things needed to destroy this curse are Kagome's arrows," Miroku said after a few moments. "She can easily overwhelm the youki, and with a blessing also attached to the arrow, destroy the curse itself. While you or Inuyasha," he said, addressing Mattaki respectfully and with a light bow, "could destroy the youki portion, you wouldn't be able to do the same to the curse. You could, of course, keep the curse from affecting you since you are stronger than it is, but the rest of us would still be in trouble."

"So we just get out into the open and then point Kagome at it and let her go?" Inuyasha grumbled. "Kinda boring for the rest of us."

"At this point, Inuyasha, I'd be happy with some 'boring'," Sango retorted pertly, piping up for the first time that morning. "I've had enough excitement lately to last me several years."

"Keh," he mumbled in response, not able to think of anything to say to that.

"I think you're forgetting something, Miroku," Kagome piped up after a moment. When he looked at her with a furrowed brow, she said, "I don't know how to do a blessing. I've never been trained, remember?"

The monk blinked at her, then his own brow creased as he thought about her words. "Hm. I had forgotten. Your show of power when defeating Naraku pushed that fact out of my mind." He rubbed his chin absently as he considered things, his eyes falling to the rocky ground; everyone watched him, wondering what he would come up with next. It took a few minutes, but then he said, "Perhaps we could... combine our efforts... yes, that might work."

"Eh?"

He looked up at Kagome at her confused squeak. "If we were to combine our powers we should be able to have the same effect. I can chant a blessing to one of my sutra. Then we will take it and attach it to your arrow, and as you infuse the arrow with your power it will also attach itself to the blessing. It would be as if I was taking and guiding your power in the way it needed to go – my sutra and houriki acting as a guide for your reiki. I'm almost positive it would work. But... I might need to use two – or more - sutra with blessings to make it strong enough not only to channel your power but to overpower Naraku's twisted curse."

Mattaki opened his mouth to say something when Miroku spoke again. "Kagome-sama, would you pull out one of your arrows and pour your power into it just as if we were battling and you were about to release it? I need to get a feel for the amount of power you are now capable of channeling – I need to know exactly how many sutra I will need," he chuckled sheepishly as he scratched the back of his neck. "You have grown in strength so much that I cannot say just how much stronger than me you truly are. A miscalculation here could have... rather negative results."

"Negative results?" Mattaki asked, his voice ominous – he'd forgotten what he'd just been about to say when he'd heard that. "What do you mean by 'negative results'?

"Since we don't know exactly how Naraku created this curse or its exact parameters, a miscalculation could completely negate what we are trying to do, while riling the youki contained within it and making the thing, well... basically angry." He winced at the zap of energy that came from the entrance as the cloud tried to push past the sutra there again and failed, an odd sound being forced from it as it got punished for its try. "Or angrier, as the case may be."

"Then I suppose that you had best be sure what you are doing, monk," Mattaki said blandly, though the warning in it was heard by everyone as Kagome obediently pulled an arrow and flamed it as though she were going to attack. "I will not suffer anything to harm Kagome."

The entire cave burned with pink light, and Inuyasha jumped to his feet with a yell, scrambling to the far side of the cave followed by Shippo, Kirara, and even Mattaki, though he moved more slowly, his eyes narrowed thoughtfully on her brightly glowing arrow.

"Is that your peak strength?" he asked, and Kagome shook her head.

"No, but in these close quarters I don't dare go any higher. I don't want to hurt you guys, you know," she responded tartly, letting her power die back down as Inuyasha huffed at her.

Miroku shook his head. "That was more than enough – with me basically guiding her powers with my own, as it were, what she just showed should be more than enough to completely purge that cloud. You are all lucky that you are not filled with darkness and malice, or I daresay you would have been purified by that little show, as well."

"So the bottom line here is we need to get out into the open and have you attach a blessing – or two or three – to Kagome's arrow, and then we let her loose on the cloud, is that what you are saying?" Mattaki finally asked, obviously becoming a bit annoyed at the talking and wanting to get on with it.

Miroku exchanged a rueful glance with Kagome and nodded. "Yes, that would pretty much cover it, I believe."

"Can you actually do the blessing sutra now and attach them to an arrow while we are here, or do you have to do it at the last minute?" he asked curtly; the General had obviously come to the fore now, and he was already planning their salvo against their enemy.

"I can do it now," Miroku assured him.

"Good. Then I suggest that you get to work on those blessings, then attaching them to one of Kagome's arrows. Everyone else should gather their belongings and get ready to head out – the fire's going to die soon, and this cave isn't all that comfortable as it is," he said, once more going to the entrance to glare at their nemesis.

Without further ado Kagome handed an arrow to Miroku as he took out his writing supplies and last bits of paper and began writing several blessings and even an anti-curse. She watched him for a moment, then turned and began gathering all her things, the extra blankets and the like, so that she could fold them all up and stuff them back in her bag.

Once that was done she took Mattaki's leather traveling pouch and wrapped the leftover meat in it – they'd left it smoking over the fire all night, and it was now good and preserved and ready for consumption whenever it was needed. It would last at least two or three days, which was more than long enough.

It wasn't long until everyone's tasks were being punctuated by Miroku's chanting as he set the blessings and anti-curse, and Kagome found herself almost wanting to sway with the sonorous sound as she sat back down, her own things as well as the few things Mattaki had, packed up and ready to go. Her eyes fell closed as she seemed to fall into a light trance; she could feel Miroku's words as though they were physical touches, and for some reason each syllable seemed to almost tug at her reiki, beckoning it forth.

She didn't fight it; allowing her reiki to come out as it seemed to want to, she didn't even notice when Miroku fell silent as did the rest of the group, everyone staring at her unseeing person as a pink glow surrounded her, arching away from her and stretching out to touch and infuse the sutra that Miroku had just finished with.

Finally the pull from the sutra ended, and after a few moments Kagome woke from her light trance, not even aware of what had just happened. She frowned as her eyes opened and she found everyone staring at her.

"What?" she asked slowly, warily.

It was Miroku that answered. "You aren't perhaps as far from controlling your power as it might seem, Kagome-sama – it responds much more easily now to what is going on around it. I think that all you really need is lessons in guiding the flow when you require it. It already answers to your call quite easily."

Her frown deepened. "What do you mean? I didn't do anything."

"Ah, but you did. My chanting put you into a light trance, and when the sutra called to you, you responded, though on a subconscious level. Still, when you called your reiki it came without hesitance, as it used to do. You only have need of being taught the way to guide it consciously. That really shouldn't take all that long. When a miko or a monk is trained, the longest part of the training is getting the ki to respond to its master's call consistently and easily. You have passed that stage."

"So... what did I do?" she asked as everyone began to stand in preparation to depart, and Miroku handed her back the now prepared arrow.

"Why don't you tell me?" he asked, an inquisitive look on his face as she almost gingerly took the arrow. It was clear that he wished to see if she could tell what she had done without conscious thought.

Looking the arrow over carefully she opened her senses to it, and immediately recognized her own power signature twining with and overpowering Miroku's houriki. But when her inner eye fastened to the slips of elaborately written sutra, that inner eye was almost blinded by the pink glow of her power being guided along gently by Miroku's through the spell it contained.

It took a moment, but...

"Oh! I see it," she said, getting excited. "It's like the sutra is written with my reiki!"

He nodded, pleased as his thoughts on her control and ability was confirmed. "Yes. The ink I wrote the sutra with is basically acting as a channel, a guide, for your own power. Anyone on the spiritual plane will see a counter-curse and two blessings written in your reiki. And what has been written in power will remain visible on the spiritual plane forever. This curse of Naraku's will never be able to be restored or revived, no matter the power of the person or being trying."

"Why would someone try to revive a dispelled curse?" Inuyasha asked gruffly as they all piled to the entrance.

"Because in some cases, depending on the strength of the counter-curse, it is easier to use a curse that is already in existence and has merely been banished. If the person banishing the curse barely managed the feat, then the person reviving the curse would be adding their power to it, thus reviving it and making it stronger without having to go to all the trouble and time of creating a powerful curse on their own from scratch," Miroku replied calmly.

"While this is certainly interesting," Mattaki said crisply from the head of the group, "now is not the time. This is how we are going to leave – I will go first, followed by Sango, Shippo, Kirara, and her brother. Kagome and Miroku will walk together to keep an eye on the cloud and make sure it does not get a chance to touch anyone, and then you will come behind, Inuyasha. This way the ones who have no real defense from this cloud are in the middle and protected by those of us who do." He looked sternly at them all. "Do not stray from your place for any reason, and if the cloud tries to attack leave a counterattack to Kagome and Miroku, who will use sutra to keep it at bay until we can get out of these tight quarters and back into open territory. That is when we will make our stand."

No one said anything, simply shuffling into the order that Mattaki had given, and when everyone was ready he had Miroku quickly step up next to him and neutralize the existing sutra around the entrance before falling back to his place.

The moment the sutra went dead Mattaki moved, and as they all exited the cave the cloud gave off some kind of odd growling and made for the four beings it was determined to destroy. Not missing a beat Kagome tossed sutra at it, forcing it to pull back.

That odd growling sound got louder, but with no choice but to follow behind the group it did so, the pernicious nature of it beginning to make Kagome feel a bit ill as it trailed them, hatred and an almost insane need to destroy emanating from it quite strongly.

The time it took for them to leave behind the narrow, rocky ravine that they'd been in seemed like forever to Kagome, whose skin almost felt raw at the evil thing following them and looking for any weakness to exploit. Trying to keep it from finding one was wearing on her, and she could feel the same concern from Miroku.

All it would take is just one touch – one touch to one of those it had been meant for would be fatal, a virulent, painful death and more than likely a compromised afterlife, as well – Naraku wouldn't bother with something that would just kill – he'd want something that would curse his opponents forever, if he could. With the jewel's assistance he very well could have found a way to keep the spirits of those he'd murdered with said curse bound to the place they died without ever having a chance at surcease, a chance to leave it all behind and be reincarnated.

He had been a truly twisted, hateful individual even as a human, and becoming a hanyou had only added to it.

A shout of alarm and another hiss; Miroku had caught a tendril aiming for himself just as it had almost reached him as Kagome tossed one at another tendril reaching for Kohaku. Kirara hissed at the cloud, her fur on end, and Kagome, getting angry furrowed her brow and pushed her aura out around the group in a blast to ward the cloud away – at least temporarily. She had to keep the power of her attack down though, so as not to injure her youkai companions, so the push did little more than just that, making the cloud back away again.

It was enough though, and seeing the advantage in the moment with the cloud pushed so far back, Mattaki had everyone else fall behind him and swiftly had Kagome move up with her bow out and her prepared arrow ready.

Sighting along her arrow Kagome couldn't help the prayer that left her lips as she tracked the cloud, which was actually getting larger and once again coming close. Just as it seemed to pick up speed she inhaled, held the breath, and then released.

Please, please work! she cried inwardly as everyone else waited breathlessly for the explosion sure to come...

And they weren't disappointed.

The arrow hit the cloud dead center, and a great pulse came from the black mass as it swallowed the arrow trailing pink fire. For several moments it almost seemed as though the arrow was going to have no more effect than that... but then bright pink radiance tore through the mass, practically shredding it as great rents appeared in it and it wavered and then basically just fell apart, the blackness fading away as though it had never been.

The moment it did, however...

Startled shouts and the sounds of swords being drawn and curses were heard... Naraku had once again left them grasping for straws at the complexity of yet another of his plans.

When the cloud was finally torn away it was clear that even Mattaki's senses had been deceived, because the thing that rose out of the remains of the cloud was like nothing he'd ever seen before – and he'd seen a lot in his centuries.

"Looks like Naraku was prepared in case you all found help against the curse itself," Inuyasha shouted, "but what the hell is that thing?!"

It was Kagome's voice that rose in startlement as she stared at the being before them with wide eyes. "It... it looks like..."

"Like what, Kagome?!" Mattaki demanded, sword drawn and ready to attack the thing that was staring at them all hungrily and snarling with challenge.

"I think it was called Cerberus!" she shrieked. "In Greek mythology it was a three-headed dog that guarded the way to the underworld!"

Mattaki growled, then sheathed his sword. "Then this fight is mine! All of you, get back out of the way!"

Everyone else took off running except Inuyasha, who looked reluctant to back away from any opponent but who did as told as his father actually barked at him, and Kagome, who looked at him with desperate worry.

"Go! I will be fine, Kagome – but I am alpha here, and it is challenging me with its snarls at this very moment. I will not bow down to any dog, three-headed or not!"

Hesitating for one last second, Kagome finally did as she was told with a desperately fearful look and a cry of "Be careful!" before running off to join the others as far from the soon-to-be field of battle as possible.

The group, huddled all together with Inuyasha to guard them with a drawn and transformed Tessaiga, watched in shock and terrible awe as Mattaki's youki practically exploded from him, wrapping around him in a destructive kaleidoscope of white power and fierce winds. He disappeared from view for several long moments, and when he finally re-alighted on the ground it was in a vastly different form.

Kagome couldn't help but stare, even with the seriousness of the battle that was about to commence. She hadn't seen him in his true form up to this point, and he was massive... and beautiful. Much, much bigger than Sesshoumaru in his true form, Mattaki towered over the three-headed dog by a good bit though the other inu, dark and ugly as he was, was built heavier with a denser bone-structure.

Gleaming white in the sun Mattaki almost hurt to look at, and as he threw back his head and trumpeted a return challenge at the dark hellhound facing him, Kagome shivered with fear – for him. This huge dog was obviously going to be no mean opponent, and it occurred to her to wonder where Naraku got the idea to do this. Had the spider hanyou truly just made up a twisted version of an inuyoukai when he created this thing, or had he somehow heard of the legend of the three-headed dog that guarded the underworld of a people far across the seas? Could this thing truly be Cerberus, plucked from its place guarding Hades' kingdom by the power of the Shikon no Tama?

Too stunned and worried to really be paying attention, she was taken aback a little when Miroku, who'd been studying it from his place further back holding on to a shocked Sango, said, "It is youkai, though it's youki is strange." He looked at her as she glanced at him over her shoulder. "You mentioned a name... Cerberus? Was it a youkai?"

She turned back around as the three heads of the dog howled angrily at Mattaki's declaration of his status as alpha – apparently, three heads or not dogs were dogs, and the strong were always going to declare themselves as alpha until defeated in combat.

"I don't know. He comes from the legends of the Greek people. In them, Cerberus guarded the gates into the kingdom of Hades, the god of the underworld and the dead," she replied, wringing her hands with fear as the dark dog snarled something with its lips pulled back from its teeth that made Mattaki lunge at him. Just that fast the battle was joined. Kagome flinched as the two titanic bodies collided, the sound so loud that it actually shook the ground.

It didn't take long for blood to be flying, and Mattaki was at a distinct disadvantage against a dog with three heads – which meant a lot more teeth. But surprisingly enough he certainly wasn't losing, and his white coat was soon splattered with the blood of his opponent, as well. He didn't make much in the way of sound, save fearsome growls or snarls, though the Cerberus dog cried out much more as Mattaki tore out great chunks of flesh from its heavier, slower frame.

With every eye plastered on the battle it wasn't surprising that no one noticed the youki of another strong inu approaching until he landed next to Kagome and Inuyasha, his eyes glowing redly as he watched his father and the three-headed dog battle.

"This dog is strange – it scents very slightly of Naraku," he declared, surprising the group. "You will tell me what you know of this," he glanced sideways at Kagome for a single moment, before his eyes went back to the fight.

It took Kagome a moment to gather herself; the surprise of his arrival and her worry and fear for Mattaki keeping her mind muddled, but after forcibly ordering her thoughts she told him everything they knew in short, succinct sentences.

"Hn. The hanyou meant to bait this one with that beast," he declared, his eyes narrowing.

"Oi, what do ya mean?" Inuyasha snapped. "He set this curse on Miroku and the others... you wouldn't have even been involved."

"Why do you think I am here, Inuyasha?" he asked scathingly as the ground shook again as Mattaki got beneath the Cerberus look-alike and knocked him over. "The evil feel of it drew me here – and even had the curse finished off your friends, this dog would still have been left behind. He wasn't just going after them – he was challenging me, as well." He smirked. "Of course, he did not expect his beast to have to fight father. That is another matter altogether."

Sesshoumaru's eyes closed and his head lifted in enjoyment as he took in the scent of the other dog's blood, and his lip curled. "It is a construct. I recognize the base smell of this demon – the part not mixed with the smell of the hanyou or the Shikon no Tama. Naraku took it and forced it into this form – likely to mock me." After a moment more of taking in the scents he opened his eyes and looked down at his brother with a flat expression. "It appears your luck in getting out of bad situations has held, Inuyasha – I had been told you had foolishly followed that walking corpse to hell. How did you escape the consequences for that honorless decision?"

Kagome ignored the brotherly verbal spar that was starting – she was used to them, and at this point she had other worries on her mind – though she did find it kind of reassuring that Sesshoumaru showed no concern over his father's battle.

She could see why. Though Mattaki was definitely injured it didn't appear to be slowing him down much, and that three-headed thing appeared to be much the worse for wear, one of the heads already hanging loosely, appearing as though it were dead. The white hound that was the daiyoukai she was in love with had apparently identified those extra heads as its most dangerous aspect and gone after them with a vengeance. She winced and looked away as a gurgling scream came from another of the heads as Mattaki lunged forward and sank his huge fangs into its throat, then braced himself and ripped it out as he tore his head to the side.

Huge chunks of spoiled flesh lay all around the field of battle as blood spurted from the ruined throat, and the final head of the Cerberus dog – as she was just going to call it – let out a haunting cry as it slipped a bit in its own blood and had to compensate by leaving its flank open as its head whipped around trying to find its balance. Mattaki took instant advantage, ramming into its side and tearing more flesh out while at the same time trying to knock it down. It almost looked like he had succeeded for a moment, but then the flailing claws of the beast caught on some buried rock in the ground and allowed it to stabilize again.

It was apparent that Mattaki was trying to get the heavier dog down, because if he could he would win – it was too slow and awkward to get up quickly, leaving it unable to defend itself. Still, though he hadn't succeeded yet it was only a matter of time, and the black dog, two heads hanging limp and half torn away from their necks, was bleeding heavily and panting so hard it was almost hyperventilating. And Mattaki continued the attack, not letting the dog get a moment to regroup or catch a breath, pressing his advantage despite his own injuries - which Sesshoumaru interrupted his argument with Inuyasha to inform a very upset Kagome were not as bad as they looked.

"Did I not heal my own injuries from Magatsuhi with naught but my will?" he asked her. "Do you not think my father is capable of the same? You worry for nothing, woman," he intoned before turning back to level his brother with more caustic words.

The rest of the group also pretty much ignored the contretemps between Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru – they'd seen so many of these arguments that they didn't mean anything anymore. But every eye was peeled to the fight that was coming to an end out on the bloody plain – Mattaki, shouldering into the other canine despite the painful looking bite he suffered for it finally managed to knock the other dog off-balance enough, with the slippery ground adding to the effect, that he was able to get him down, and at that point it was over – as the dark dog lay helpless and too exhausted to fight any further, Mattaki went for its last throat and ripped into it, the spray of blood drenching him further in the red gore of his opponent's spent life force. The beast shuddered and tried to draw air, but unable to it slowly bled out as it suffocated to death beneath the triumphant paws of its destroyer.

When it took its last gasping breath and then fell still, Mattaki raised his head and howled his victory, a declaration of his Alpha status singing into the air along with it. Sesshoumaru turned away from his brother, his eyes flashing redly again as he looked on the field of battle with approval.

"It appears that this one's father is still just as destructive as he always was, and even more powerful," he said, satisfaction sounding in his voice as Kagome glanced at him disbelievingly. Her stomach was churning from the sight and smell – this was the worst field of battle she'd seen in all her time in the Sengoku Jidai – and Sesshoumaru approved of it?

Even Inuyasha appeared to find the whole thing to his liking as his lip curled and a fang slipped out as he joined his brother in looking over the carnage their father had left behind, and Kagome, revolted, turned away, refusing to look any further.

The others all appeared to be taking it a little better than her, though they didn't seem to enjoy the carnage they were more inured to it, and so simply watched as the white dog once again surrounded himself with his power and then as Mattaki emerged from the glow, looking none the worse for wear. Even his clothing was pristine, not a speck of blood still on him anywhere.

"Ugh. Now that would come in handy," Sango sighed as she watched the male walk back towards them all. "If we could do that, we wouldn't have had to spend all that time looking for streams and hot springs after a battle. And just imagine not having to wash your clothes!"

"Huh?" Kagome looked at her, confused.

Sango pointed behind her at the approaching daiyoukai. "Look!"

Reluctantly, eyeing Sango suspiciously, she turned and her eyes caught on Mattaki striding nonchalantly back towards them as though he'd just been for a walk in the park – and looking like it, too. Her jaw dropped.

"Wha-what?" she sputtered, not knowing whether to be angry or just glad that he didn't appear to be hurt at all.

She decided on anger as he joined them once more with a pleased expression on his face. "If you could do this kind of thing, then why didn't you do this when... when, well, when you fought Ryukotsussei and Takemaru? Instead you died!" she howled, hands on hips and glaring mightily at a bemused Mattaki.

"Because I'm stronger now than I was then," he answered, blinking at her rage, not sure why she was so angry. "That was two hundred years ago. And I still had some ability to do it then – but the injuries I sustained then were much worse as well, between the dragon and then going after Izayoi. I had to go through Takemaru's entire army to get to her. And if you've forgotten, I am no longer able to be killed. I wouldn't be able to protect you in the way the kami want if I could be."

Still angry, but not understanding why and not knowing what else to say, she huffed and turned away and stormed off, just so glad that he was okay – and truthfully, feeling silly that she'd forgotten that fact and been so worried. He'd really been in no danger, just like Sesshoumaru had said, but she figured it was going to take time to sink in that she didn't have to fear losing him to an opponent.

Mattaki watched her stomp off for a moment, then looked at Inuyasha, who shrugged. "Keh. Just let her be for a few. She gets that way sometimes."

"I'll go talk to her," Sango said, setting Hiraikotsu against a rocky outcropping and slowly moving off after Kagome, her stride a little stiff and slow as her injury was still quite sore.

Nodding, Mattaki stretched after a moment, looking like nothing so much as a cat that got the cream as he settled back into his normal relaxed stance. "That was quite enjoyable," he sighed. "It's been so long since I've seen battle in my true form. I do hope it's not that long again before I am able to do so."

"Hn." Sesshoumaru agreed. He looked out at the ruined field just as Kohaku and Miroku, who was toting Shippo, moved up to stand with the three inuyoukai.

"Well, that is certainly a mess, to be sure. I was quite used to cleaning such messes up with the kazanna, but now that it is gone, I suppose the mess will have to stay as it is."

"It will not remain that way for long," Mattaki assured him as he turned and began following along in the direction Kagome had taken, the others falling into place around him and Kohaku grabbing up the Hiraikotsu as he passed it. "As soon as we leave the carrion eaters – youkai and mortal alike – will be on it, and within a few weeks there will be naught but bone left behind."

"True," Miroku agreed.

"Now that the curse is dispelled, what will you do?" Mattaki asked curiously, looking over at the monk as he rubbed thoughtfully at his shoulder.

"I am not certain. We obviously cannot return to the slayer's village. Perhaps... return to Kaede and ask if we may stay there, at least for the winter. I can think of nowhere else to go, and though it would be crowded it is better than freezing," he sighed.

"And after? Once the winter has passed?"

"I would have to talk to Sango, obviously, but we will probably just decide to stay in the village. Build our own hut there. We are known there and welcome, and what is left of Sango's old village will never make a home for us now. It is too haunted," he replied.

The group fell silent for a moment and then Mattaki offered, "You may winter with us at my home, if you wish. It is certainly large enough, and there is no reason for you to crowd yourselves and the elder miko into a tiny hut when I have so much space available. Then come summer you can build your hut and move as you are ready."

Miroku looked surprised, then bowed lightly in gratitude. "Gomenasai for the offer. I will speak to Sango and see what she thinks, but I daresay we will most likely take you up on that."

Mattaki nodded and then turned to his eldest son, who had so far followed along quietly. "So, Sesshoumaru – where did you leave Jaken this time?" he asked, a smirk in his voice that had the younger daiyoukai narrowing his eyes at his father, wondering what the amusement was for.

"Does it matter? As the presence that drew me here is now gone, I will take my leave," he glanced at his brother, a still disapproving light in his eyes as he did, "but I will come to you when the snows start and spend some time there at your home. After all, I am certain you are suffering for a lack of a true opponent, and I am sure you could use a good spar."

Before Inuyasha could get started Mattaki waved a hand at his eldest son and nodded. "Then I will see you at that time. Be well, Sesshoumaru."

The inuyoukai nodded. "Be well, father," he returned, then in a whirl of white silk he disappeared, leaving his younger brother sputtering and muttering sarcastically.

"Bastard," he hissed irritatedly. He cracked his knuckles. "One of these days I'm gonna show him a thing or two, and he's not gonna know what hit him."

Mattaki stared at his son, as did everyone else, and then started laughing. "I'd love to see that, Inuyasha," he finally gasped, and to the tune of the hanyou's frustrated cursing the group continued following behind the annoyed female figure that was still stomping along up ahead, though it appeared that Sango had managed to get her to calm down somewhat.

The daiyoukai just shook his head at his youngest son, actually glad they'd gone on this trip, the curse and its circumstances notwithstanding. He'd finally managed to have some quality time with his youngest son – time that had not been tainted by anger and bitterness, and gotten to know who the boy was deep down inside – the person he tried so hard to hide from everyone.

And on top of that, he thought once more with satisfaction as his muscles coiled and tightened beneath his skin, he'd gotten to take his true form and unleash his devastatingly potent strength on an opponent, once more proving his status as Alpha.

Life was good, he decided, and he was damn glad he'd been given a second chance at it as he once more looked at his beautiful and spirited female as she slowed her pace ahead of them, calming down a little more as Sango soothed her irritation.

Yes... life was definitely good – even if it was noisy, he thought wryly as Inuyasha continued ranting about the 'bastard with an icicle up his ass' that was always harassing him.

Well... I have to admit, Sesshoumaru does act like he's got ice in his... veins...

He chuckled inwardly.

~oOo~

A/N: Damn, this chapter was hard. I almost stopped it just as I got to the fight part and totally erased it and started over. For some reason I just didn't like it. I'm still not sure if I do or not. But it's written, and I'm not going to go back and redo it. I still have another chapter of SR that I want to get written – a nice twist that's about to happen in that story is ready to be gotten down and I want to do it while it's still fresh in my mind how I want it to go.

So I guess you guys will all have to take this chapter as it is – and no, just to be clear, the dog wasn't really Cerberus – it was just a youkai that Naraku took and twisted up as a mockery of Sesshoumaru's inuyoukai blood. He figured once the curse killed Sango, Miroku, Kohaku and Kirara off, this twisted dog could take on Sesshoumaru. He wanted to kill off all those who'd opposed him. Remember, in an earlier chapter I already wrote how he figured that Kagome would be broken and vulnerable because of Inuyasha abandoning her to go to hell with Kikyou so she wouldn't last long, so he figured the rest of them were the only ones left and he didn't want them to have happy lives. He wasn't, of course, expecting the interference of the kami in bringing not only Inupapa back to life, but returning Inuyasha, as well.

Too bad, so sad for Naraku.

Amber